For every “⏳” I receive, my muse will openly talk about a bit of their backstory.
Who: Zhah’ra Savaptha; Silvienne (NPC)
What: Silvienne has idle curiosities.
Where: The Stray Inn, The Black Shroud
When: Relatively recently.
Content: Warnings for implied child neglect, mild dissociation.
Written for MAHI prompt words: VILLAGE, LISTEN
Zhah'ra looked up from his book, his ears lifting in surprise. "Where I grew up?"
"Yes!" Silvienne offered him a smile as she settled her spectacles back into place. "You're forestborn, aren't you?" Her pen scratched quietly as she looked from document to ledger to schedule. Of late she had taken to working in the back corner of the tavern, spread out over one of the banquet tables. Too stuffy in the cellarage, she had said. Zhah'ra wondered if she was just wanting for company.
"I -- yes. I guess so," he replied. "I'm not entirely sure where I was born."
Silvienne tilted her head. "Oh, did your mum never say?"
Zhah'ra shook his head, his ears folding back. "She -- we avoided settlements. The Calamity changed so many of the natural landmarks, the weather... it's hard to know for certain, just from memory."
Silvienne hummed. "Strange, ain't it, going back to a familiar place and finding it's... almost like it's somewhere else entirely."
Zhah'ra's gaze fell back to the book in his lap, so new that the binding creaked when he turned a page, the ink of the illustrations bright against the paper.
His fingers brushed over the painted blossom with its layers on layers.
Clematis. Climbing habit. Large, showy blooms. With careful dosing, treats headache and nervous disposition. Causes stomach bleeding when consumed in large amounts.
(The cool dark of the overhang, smell of wet stone and loam and greenery falling, curtain-like, across the opening - purple petals opening to the rain.)
(Later, clearer: trailing vines draping from the edges of the outcropping near Hawthorne Hut, broad leaves and familiar flowers.)
"I think... it must have been in part of what is now the East Shroud, near Baelsar's Wall. But not on the other side of it. My mother's older sister lived out there - what's called the East End now, I think. When I was very little, she came to live with us for a while, because the wall being built destroyed the village she lived in."
"Horrible!" Silvienne clucked. "Damnable Garleans...." But she did not look up from her ledgers. This was old news.
Her words barely reached him. Gathering his legs against his chest, he tucked his chin behind his knees. His eyes stared, unseeing, at the floor.
🙞⁕🙜
Voices murmuring, half-obscured by the crackle of the fire. Woolen blanket scratching at his nose, trapping his breath, keeping it silent; suffocating. Ears straining.
"What do you think you're doing with the boy? The long hair, all of it. Are you so desperate?"
"You lost your girl. You of all people should understand."
A scoff. "I understand. I also understand - as you must, too - that he's not to be kept. Let him go, like the rest."
A long silence.
"Pray to the Lover, Zhah. Beg forgiveness. She may yet break this curse."
At the edge of the camp, lying in the dark: a small boy struggling to breathe.
🙞⁕🙜
"--h'ra. Zhah'ra?"
He bolted upright. "I'm sorry!"
Silvienne was leaning forward across the table and wearing a puzzled expression. "What're you apologizin' for, Zhah'ra? It just seemed like we lost you for a moment. I wasn't sure if you had heard my question."
Zhah'ra felt himself freeze and cursed himself, knowing it was showing on his face. More and more, he was slipping.
Gently, Silvienne repeated: "I was just asking if you want some tea. I was going to make some."
Zhah'ra's stomach churned at the thought, but he summoned a smile. "That sounds lovely, thank you."
"Alright. You sit tight, now."
He sat.
------------
Image: Clematis botanical illustration by Vracovska, Shutterstock. Resized and color-adjusted.
Zedyr was stumbling through Hawker's Alley on a last-minute errand. The stalls were closing, the sun sinking. He had flung himself out of bed, cursing, less than a quarter-bell ago. Winter was always an endless blur. Long nights and the churn of the workshop left him tumbling and disoriented for sennights on end. His hair was a mess, he was sure, mouth dry and thoughts scattered on the salt spray.
The scent of late spring berries flooded his senses, and suddenly, he was awake.
It carried him, rudderless, toward the cart with its punnets of delicate fruit. The rolanberries were a deep red; he could smell the sugar in them.
The rest of the world filtered in, slowly. Sunshine on limestone. The rush and slap of waves. Temperate air, not yet stifling.
Warmth suffused him, and he found himself sighing, raising his head.
"Two, please."
He hurried home, the little baskets tucked away like a secret.
-----
For many reasons, Zedyr's favorite season is late spring and early summer.
-----
Photo credit: szjeno09190 on Pixabay
Written to/half-inspired by "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles
Tuxedo Strawberry: a well-dressed headcanon (any headcanon about clothes).
Who: Ryoku Kazemoto; Lord Kita (NPC) and his other retainers
What: Ryoku finds that his lord’s library may have been inadequate to this particular task.
Where: Kugane, Hingashi
When: A number of years ago
Content: mild self-consciousness?
Written for MAHI prompt words: WRINKLE, HISTORIAN, OTHARD*
The first time Ryoku arrived in Kugane, it was as part of Lord Kita's retinue. The retainers all wore their best traveling garb: linen and wool, spun fine, but rumpled from the journey. As they debarked, the swirl of activity on the docks rose up around him -- a waterfall of voices, the creak of cart wheels, feet drumming over the boards.
The babble of overlapping conversations rushed past at such speed that he caught only fragments.
--the price is far too--
--no! No! No, I say!
By the kami--
Fish here!
A giggle cut through the noise, and Ryoku turned his head. A small girl, not much older than little Aiko, was staring at him with open curiosity. She was dressed in a bright print, clinging to her father's fingers as he haggled with a merchant.
"Father," she said as she tugged on his hand, her high voice riding the wind. "Why does that man--" Ryoku braced for the familiar questions, half-smiling to himself. Why does he have those white horns over his ears? Why does he have a tail? "--have such strange clothes on?" she finished.
Ryoku glanced down before his dignity caught up with him -- at his green over-robe and the layered garments beneath. Knee pants, sandals. Formal garb for a lord's retainer, was it not? Though, now that he looked at the crowd... the clothing worn by Kugane's citizens was a poor match for the illustrations.
The girl's father glanced over his shoulder with an air of bored amusement, but his eyebrows rose slightly as he caught sight of Lord Kita and his three men striding down the boardwalk.
As they passed him, he picked his daughter up and shushed her. "--rude to ask such things," Ryoku heard him murmur. The rumble of a passing carriage eclipsed half of the next sentence, but enough reached Ryoku's horns to raise a humiliated flush on the back of his neck: "foreigners" and "farmers" and "do not know better."
The others did not hear, of course, or did not understand the words. ("Will my sword not speak for me?" Karaku had said, when Ryoku had mentioned lessons.) Lord Kita marched forward, paying no heed to the curious glances that followed them.
Ryoku took a deep breath. Next time, more reading beforehand.
---------
Ryoku has attained a reasonable level of knowledge regarding fashion and ceremonial costume for most of the neighboring nations and city-states... but it is anywhere between ten and a hundred years out of date. Lord Kita, his master, does not care to stand on ceremony in any respect and shows up in whatever he feels like wearing, but Ryoku likes to at least make an effort to blend in. As a result, he has on more than one occasion found himself showing up to a function or something only to realize that, uh, whoops, he’s a bit of a walking history mannequin. (A Western analogy might be someone showing up to a modern cocktail party in a top hat and tails.)
This headcanon was inspired by the fact that I dress Ryoku in the Lord’s Suikan in-game, primarily because it is accessible at low levels, but also because I think it looks good! But historically speaking, the real-life suikan was a very old-fashioned formal garment.
* Yes, I know technically Hingashi isn’t part of Othard, but the prompts are not necessarily literal.
Romance and Friendship ship asks: all of them LJ syle please
Tumblr like it’s LJ: Romance and friendship ship asks!
Bless you, @don-pom, for enabling me, and shoutout to @thevoilinauttheory for responding to my similar request as well.
For those wondering what the hell “LJ style” means - on LiveJournal, eons ago, there used to be these meme templates with a long list of questions where you’d fill all of them out in one post with the results under a “cut” (readmore) and then tag your friends to fill it out, too. (There was no “ask box” feature on the site.)
Some meme templates like this still circulate on Tumblr, of course, but they’re much less common than ask memes.
The questions below do include non-detailed discussions of sexuality/ERP.
Without further ado...
1. When you RP a ship do you prefer to make everything be smooth sailing all the time or do you allow conflicts to arise?
I don't like conflict for the sake of conflict in relationships, but I think that it can be interesting to explore where friction points arise from differences in perspectives, expectations, etc. I also do not necessarily equate the success of the RP/the story with the success of the relationship. Relationships that fall apart and relationships that just end can also be good stories (or contain good elements) which propel characters in interesting directions.
I am also fairly uncomfortable with the idea of being expected to "make" a relationship be a smooth one when things that would generate a conflict are also present in the storyline - i.e., with godmoding the relationship to be all positive outcomes all the time no matter what happens. (Not that all instances of "smooth sailing all the time" necessarily involve this, but I have seen it here and there.) I think that it's much, MUCH more interesting to work through with an RP partner how two characters might resolve an issue that comes up in-story.
That said, I have been open in the past to occasional retcons to circumvent an unfortunate point of conflict -- generally in cases where an interaction went completely sideways due to OOC miscommunication or misunderstanding. There are often things a character would know about another that the player might not know about, simply because there is more interaction between the characters than what happens on-screen. Sometimes you talk it out OOC and a rollback is the best option for both players. But it would not be the first solution I reach for, by any means - improvising from the unexpected is a big part of what makes RP enjoyable, for me.
2. Do you like to RP smut when you RP a ship?
I've made no secret of the fact that I do enjoy playing out sexual interactions between characters and/or spending time discussing that part of their relationship - I'm a giant nerd about sexuality, so it's fun for me to go digging around in that part of a character's psychology. (And while it's good clean fun when things go well, it's also fascinating to explore what difficulties can arise, also.)
However, this is by no means a requirement! I very much value my characters' platonic and QP relationships, and even for characters who do have a sexual relationship, I am perfectly content to fade to black.
3. Do you like to plan a ship out or just let it happen?
While I enjoy tossing around hypotheticals ("how do you think they'd interact in this circumstance?") especially when it comes to figuring out a ship's basic seaworthiness, I don't think that it's realistic -- or, for me, preferable -- to plan out every point into the future. The devil is in the subtleties when it comes to interpersonal compatibility, and having a relationship be on rails (or a relationship escalator, for that matter) doesn't really appeal to me. My interest is more in putting the two characters together and seeing where the turning points fall.
That said, there is definitely a place for talking things through in order to engineer circumstances which might set the pair up for success (whatever that might look like). Relationship enzymes, if you will. But to me that is something different from assuming the outcome as a given and having to then mold/stretch the intermediate steps to fit.
4. Do you prefer monogamous or polyamorous ships?
I don't tend to RP exclusive relationships just in general, but that's not the same as a polyamorous ship IMO. Very few of my characters are monogamous by nature, but I don't necessarily seek out multiple partnerships specifically. If they happen, they happen.
In the same vein, polyfidelitous relationships are not really my leaning (e.g., OT3, triad, quad, etc. - where everybody is in a committed romantic relationship with everybody else). Furthermore, trying to solve a "three-body problem" just tends to introduce a lot of OOC complications, in my experience - especially in RP - so it's not a goal by any stretch.
That said, I have nothing against metamours knowing each other! That can be really fun, tbh, as long as everybody's cool with it (or as long as everybody is cool OOC with the characters maybe being not-cool with it IC). I think I prefer that to multishipping AUs, as well.
That said, OOC possessiveness is not something I tolerate at all well, and IC possessiveness tends to feel icky unless it is in the service of story or character interestingness. (I don't consider it an indicator of love.)
5. Are there any characters that you want a ship for?
I mean. Yes, lol.
6. Do you like friends-with-benefits ships?
Sure, why not? That's a fun configuration! So are queerplatonic relationships (which may or may not include physical affection, sex, or commitment). I don't feel that romantic love and sexual attraction must always be yoked together - or commitment and sexual attraction, for that matter. Not all of my characters are suited for this, but some are!
7. Have you ever regretted a ship, romantic or otherwise?
Ah... yes, in a way? Mainly ones that went strangely due to OOC factors, though. I have more "too bad we didn't get to try" regrets than "yeah probably should have steered clear" regrets. All of them have contributed to my characters' stories, though.
8. Do you like to be friends with the people you have ships with?
Oh, definitely! Honestly, it might be a little awkward to be writing an IC close relationship with a stranger... there's a lot of communication involved, ideally, so it helps to be friend-compatible with the person.
9. What do you look for in a writing partner for ships?
Thoughtfulness, mainly - that and enthusiasm! Patience with the realities of meshing a hobby that involves extended writing with adult schedules and responsibilities. Shared values and, to some extent, shared interests when it comes to what we are looking for out of ship RP.
Exploring non-normative relationship configurations is important to me, so someone who expects that an RP ship will closely follow the usual romantic/sexual scripts probably will not be a good fit.
Some of my values: bodily autonomy and consent; relationship anarchy and valuing all close bonds equally (romantic or not); flipping the script/avoiding stereotyped or rigid roles.
And interests: angst and fluff/hurt-comfort and other kinds of contrast; characters who don't always make the right decision, for Reasons; safety; power dynamics; non-traditional relationship configurations; exploring difficult themes.
10. Do you think romantic ships should be longterm?
Nah. I think any relationship lasts as long as it lasts. I don't measure a ship's success in terms of its duration or permanence - only in terms of how impactful, interesting, and enjoyable it is while it is present.
11. How do you handle an absent RP partner that you have a ship with?
It depends on whether I still have contact with the other player OOC. If we're still chatting but not RPing, I tend to assume the ship is continuing "in the background" until I learn otherwise. We usually figure out some reason to explain the lack of interaction -- for example, maybe one of the two is traveling or being kept away for some reason.
If another player and I have completely fallen out of contact for an extended period, however, I tend to mentally "put a pin in" the ship and say it wound down or faded out, the way relationships sometimes do - but not saying that they broke up or parted ways formally or anything. That leaves the ship open to being picked up again later, should we reconnect.
Of course, there have been times when it has been necessary to cut OOC ties. If for some reason I don't have any intention of resuming contact with the other player, I might choose to either put a pin in the ship or, if necessary, potentially modify the story to keep the parts of the ship that contributed something to my character's development without those elements being tied to that specific player’s character, necessarily.
12. How often do you think people should RP when they have ships together?
As often as they mutually want to and are able to? What kind of question is this, lol? Putting a number to it in a vacuum seems very weird.
13. Do you RP out all interactions or do you assume some things happen ‘off-screen’ with your ships?
I do assume that the characters have lives offscreen, yes. Usually I will check in with an RP partner before the next character interaction to make sure we are on roughly the same page about what has been happening in the meanwhile and how it might have gone, what their character knows about in my character's life, and vice versa.
Then again, this is where the "character has been traveling/absorbed in work" story can cover a lot of bases when there is an extended absence.
14. Is there anyone you know that you want to have an RP ship with (romantic, friendship, hateship, rival, etc.)?
Oh yeah, for sure!
15. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned when it comes to RPing ships?
Trust your gut. If it feels wrong or weird or just not fun, sometimes the kindest thing is to bail out. You're allowed to say "this isn't working out for me"! You don't have to have "a good enough reason.” The other person doesn't have to be successfully convinced to accept it. Someone doesn't have to be acting maliciously for a relationship to be wrong for you, or just not what you want to be doing.
As a corollary: be honest about what you want - with yourself, at minimum, but preferably out loud. That doesn't mean you'll get it, of course - but being clear about it ideally lets others make informed choices and helps to nip mismatches and misunderstandings in the bud.
No relationship, IC or OOC, is the last-ever chance at something. Keep going until you can find your niche.
🌺 headcanon: Zhah'ra has a strong and healthy constitution and rarely falls ill, even with a cold (it's always his aether that gets him, and rarely germs)
Basically, yes! 9/10
At baseline, it is a little unusual for Zhah’ra to get sick, and he typically recovers quickly when he does come down with something. The times when he has been most unwell have all been related to his aether stores being dangerously depleted.
However, there is a big "if" attached: his constitution is only resilient in this way when his basic physical needs are fully met.
In times when Zhah’ra has been malnourished or poorly rested for an extended period, he has been much more prone to illness and infection. (When he first arrived in Ul’dah, he fell ill three times in the first moon.)
He knows that he cannot afford to be sick, so he has learned to pay close attention to his basic needs - at least, as much as his circumstances permit.
Where: Atelier Fen-Yll (the leatherworkers’ guild), Gridania
When: Four years ago, almost to the sun.
Content: Canon-typical xenophobia/prejudice.
Written for MAHI prompt words: green, strife, freeze, Ala Mhigo, Atelier Fen-Yll
"You listen here, and listen well." The voice was a narrow hiss that slipped through the fitted planks of the wall and curled around Amande's ears. His eyes sprang open in the dark office, the lumpy cushions of the sofa a familiar discomfort beneath his aching shoulders.
"I'm listenin'," came the weary reply. The low rumble with its flattened vowels had to belong to the newcomer, the refugee from over the Wall -- the one who had come looking to offer his skills and had been only reluctantly given the most menial of tasks: sweeping up, stirring dye baths, winding sinew on spools. The same tasks Amande had been doing for moons now, though there was more than enough for two sets of hands.
"Good. Now, you know you are on terribly thin ice already. Right?"
The silence stretched.
"Answer me."
"Yes, miss."
Amande felt his teeth clench and forced himself to relax. He wasn't supposed to be hearing this. He tried to tune it out, turning his face into the upholstery, but still it filtered through.
It was the same story -- the one he had heard half a dozen times. No work was good enough, no detail too small to find fault with. Half-thawed ice creaking underfoot, and with one misstep, ejected -- by the will of the forest.
He was lucky: lucky beyond belief. Lucky to have a place out of the rain; lucky to have his tea and honey. Lucky for each small mercy, none of them deserved.
He lay there, silent in the dark, as another man's fate was sealed. Inaction settled into his bones, another small weight. Easily borne, he told himself.
Easily borne. No need for this leaden feeling.
The voices faded. He turned over and tried to go back to sleep.
---------
How does Amande deal with a dismal mood? He sort of... doesn’t. He tends to try to ignore it, or dismiss it. It is extremely rare for him to try to address the root of it.
Fact for fact! It might be because she was introduced to the concept of it later in life, but Fen has never felt an attachment to money, and has spent as much time on the road penniless as she has with gil in her pocket. But she has no problem going out to get money when it's needed, whether that involves playing music for an audience, performing odd jobs, or hunting for meat/pelts to sell.
Who: Raranen Sasanen; NPCs: Etraux, Fafachale
What: Etraux returns from an errand.
Where: Raranen’s stables, the Shroud
When: Quite recently (late winter, perhaps a moon after Heavensturn)
Content: tobacco (pipe smoking),
Written for MAHI prompt words: elbow, background
"Thank you, Etraux. The baskets can be unloaded and stowed in the barn. Have you the change?" Raranen barely glanced up from the scratch of his pen over paper, though his guest - a Dunesfolk with blond hair and silver-grey eyes - gave Etraux a scrutinizing look.
Etraux couldn't remember his name. Chela? Fafa? Something. All Etraux knew was that he'd been visiting for more than a sennight, that his boots bore not a single blessed speck of dirt, and that he smoked a spicy, sickly-sweet tobacco that smelled nothing like the acrid stuff in Oscarlet's pipe.
(Etraux’s chest clenched painfully. He hauled his thoughts back into line. )
"Yessir." He fished the coins out of his purse and let them clink into the dish on Raranen's desk. "The price at market was lower'n expected, which is why there's extra there."
"Hmph.” A puff of smoke washed over the sleeve of Etraux's jerkin and curled up into his nose. "Why didn't he buy another bushel, instead, and save a later trip?"
Etraux hesitated, his back stiffening. He kept his gaze level, studying the tack diagram on the wall behind Raranen's desk while he fought down the urge to justify himself.
"Because I budgeted a specific amount of krakka root and greens for the moon,” came Raranen’s unbothered reply, “and because while they keep in storage for a while, the quality declines over time. I am not in the habit of feeding my birds old produce, even if it was inexpensive to start." Raranen's pen kept scratching over the page. "You should know that yourself, Facha, being in the business of feeding your performers."
"Oh, surely you're not telling me a hungry chocobo can tell the difference between a root that's two suns old and one that's a sennight old?" Facha scoffed.
Out of the corner of his vision, Etraux watched Raranen spit the other man with a flat look of pure impatience. He had to stifle a laugh.
"'Fraid they can, sir," Etraux put in. "The vegetables start not smellin' right, lose all their sweetness. Racers need all the fuel they can get, see."
Facha hmphed again. "I think the birds would eat them anyway, if it were that or starve." Another stream of pipe smoke made Etraux's eyes water.
Raranen sighed. "That is all for now, Etraux. Thank you."
Nodding, Etraux turned to go, fleeing the tense silence slowly thickening behind him.
---------
Despite the rakish, devil-may-care attitude he cultivates in other aspects of life, Raranen is very conscious of the value of money and keeps careful track of his funds. However, he also believes that money exists to serve a purpose and is not an end in itself. As a result, he does not hesitate to spend it when it suits his aims.
---------
Fact for Fact asks are always welcome! Tell me a fact about your character and I will respond with a semi-related fact about one of mine
19. which muse would you not let into your house, under any circumstance?
Not under any circumstance? I’m pretty sure I could think of a good enough reason for any of them. I do KNOW them, after all, even if they don’t know me...
Which isn’t to say there wouldn’t be conditions. For example, I’d probably want Rhenbraen to have better control over their levin-aspected aether before I let them stay with me for any significant amount of time. (I’d really rather not have my electronics fried by accident... I need those for work!)
...and I’d probably need Amande to launder his clothing really well first. I’m allergic to cat dander. :x
(Come to think of it, does that mean that I might be allergic to Zhah’ra and Mama Dee also? In that case, uh. Yeah that would need to be a VERY short-term stay.)
